Ed
by GoldiesSecretSanta
Summary: Les has a new friend named Ed. Though Les seems happy, Ed seems to leave behind a path of destruction...yet no one has seen Ed except for Les. Who is Ed?  Secret Santa fic for Goldie
1. The Room of Chaos

"Les, what is this?" Sarah stood in front of the bedroom door, her hand on her hip and her mouth slightly open. She had never seen a room look this messy.

Vests, shirts and pants were thrown everywhere and she was sure she saw a stocking or two. Her favorite white laced dress was stained and crumpled on the floor, right next to her mother's new hat. Every blanket and every sheet that was owned by the Jacobs family was ripped and torn. Smashed bananas and their peels were smeared on the wall and on the windows. All in all, it looked as though last night's storm decided to pay their small apartment a visit.

Amongst the horror sat her little brother wide eyed as he innocently fiddled around with a piece of David's vest. He was drenched from being outside in the rain, but it didn't seem to bother him.

"He doesn't like the rain." Les said with a small shrug of his shoulders.

"Yes, well I don't like the mess." Sarah picked up a shirt with her fingertips and wrinkled her nose. "Tell your friend that he can help you clean up this mess. Was it Snipeshooter? That boy needs to learn some manners."

"Nope. It was Ed. I told you, he doesn't like the rain. He gets all antsy. I tried to stop him, though. Honest!" Les stood up and started picking up the sheets. Sarah couldn't help but notice the rip in his pants, a stain on his shoulder and buttons missing from his shirt.

"Well," Sarah started slowly. "You tell Ed that regardless of the rain, destroying a room is unacceptable and disrespectful."

It was obvious to Les that his older sister was upset and stressed. It wasn't his fault that Ed got scared. He tried to calm him down, but he wasn't having it. He just got crazy. That's why he took him to Itey for the time being. Well, more like dropped him off. He left a note on Itey's bunk, but he forgot if it was Itey who couldn't read or Snitch. One of them would figure it out, at least that's what Les figured.

"I'll clean it, Sarah. I promise." Les crossed his heart with his fingers before scrambling to his feet to clean up the mess.

"The whole room?" Goldie said while using the hot curler on Sarah's hair. She was being very careful with the curler. She had accidentally burned her dog with it and feared she would do the same to Sarah. Why she was curling her dog's hair? Her dog had a date that night and she wanted her to look good.

Sarah sat completely still, still wondering why she intrusted her best friend to curl her hair when she saw how disastrous her dog turned out. Yet she had no one else to help her and she wanted to look nice for her date with Jack. Luckily, if something were to happen, she had her hat to wear.

"The whole room. It was like a storm went through it! Les said it was his friend Ed. I've never heard of Ed, and Les makes it a point to discuss all of his friends at the dinner table." Sarah chewed on her lower lip, confused by the nature of this event but nevertheless, Les was full of surprises.

"What if Les is friends with a ghost? That's probably it, Sarah! It's a ghost! Maybe you did something to make it mad at him or something! Maybe Les isn't supposed to tell because he might break his sword!" Goldie exclaimed before putting down the hot iron. She had heard of ghosts. Apparently the World building was haunted by one Jonathan Pembermuffin, the assistant to Pulitzer. Jonathan disappeared one day after the strike. Rumor had it that Pulitzer, angry at Jonathan, killed him with a lamp. "I heard that Jonathan Pembermuffin's ghost wrecked Pulitzer's office a few days ago. I saw a bunch of stuff being taken out."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to Racetrack's stories. He only does it because you're so gullible. Anyway, Mr. Pulitzer does an annual clean out and donates his old belongings now. Where do you think Mr. Kloppman got his new desk?" She loved Goldie for she was the closest thing she had to a sister, yet sometimes she was a little bit out there.

Goldie took a step back and tilted her head to the side, examining her handy work. The curls were perfect. She succeeded. Instead of exclaiming victory like she normally did, she wrinkled her nose. "What does gullible mean?"


	2. Itey

He couldn't read. Who would leave him a note when everyone knew he was illiterate? Perhaps it was a mistake, but it was on his bed. He did share a bed with Snitch, though. Maybe it was a note for him. Snitch could read.

Itey turned the note upside down, sideways, diagonally, every which way he could! He squinted his eyes, tilted his head, laid on his bed upside down to see if it made any sense. A different perspective may trigger some sort of reading nerve in his brain. He was disappointed when it didn't.

With a sigh, he slipped further off of his bunk so his hands were resting on the floor. "I need to learn to-" Before he could finish his sentence, a hand shot out fast from underneath the bed and swiftly grabbed his hat. Itey's legs went up over his head, his arms flailing around like a pinwheel before he fell onto the floor. The culprit who stole his hat was not under the bed anymore. In fact, he wasn't in the bunk room.

Itey raced to the washroom, his backside sore from his fall. He pushed open every door to the toilets, only to find that someone forgot to flush. He checked every nook and cranny for the boy responsible for taking his hat.

Nothing.

He went through every room in the lodge, every closet, every crevice. There was nobody in the lodge except for him and Kloppman. Kloppman's too old to hide under beds, steal hats and then run like the wind out the door. Unless Kloppman was a ghost. He was old. Racetrack claims he saw him floating down the stairs once.

Suddenly, a loud crash came from inside the kitchen. A startled Itey jumped back and up onto the desk, donated by Pulitzer himself. He stared at the kitchen door. What if it was the ghost of Kloppman? Itey leaned back on the desk and picked up Skittery's stick which was confiscated by Kloppman due to Skittery hitting Snipeshooter with it.

Armed with the stick, Itey tiptoed to the kitchen. Every crash he heard, he winced and whimpered.

"Come on, Itey! You're a big brave dog, you're a big brave dog, you're a big brave dog." He muttered to himself repeatedly. He stopped in front of the door, his hands shaking. "Big...brave..." When he got to the word "dog," he pushed open the door, let out a loud and squeaky war cry, and started swinging the stick blindly in every direction. His blind baseball game was ended quickly as he stepped on a fallen pot and fell to the floor, his face landing in a pile of flour.

He opened his eyes slowly at the chaos surrounding him. Flour, water, sugar and all the ingredients used for baking and cooking were thrown on the floor. Bread was sopping up the doughy mess while vegetable and fruits lay half eaten or smashed against the walls. Every cabinet door was open as well as the ice box.

Itey scrambled to his feet and shook his head to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

He wasn't.

"Itey. What in God's name did you do?" Itey spun around and was face-to-face with Kloppman, or what Itey figured, the ghost of Kloppman. Itey stared at him wide eyed before his body went limp and fell to the floor in a dramatic faint.


	3. Jack Meets Ed

Jack cursed at himself for his stupidity for forgetting the tickets to the flickers. He had worked hard for those tickets. Those tickets nearly cost him his selling spot! Luckily, he got the better hand in the intense poker game and won the tickets. He was sure that Oscar Delancey was going to beat him, but he risked it all for Sarah. She was worth it. He figured that Oscar Delancey would try and get him back for winning his date night tickets. However, he told his girl to keep him on a leash. She agreed.

"Jack, it's fine. We can do something else." Sarah replied as Jack squeezed her hand and made her walk a bit faster. "Really, it's fine. Maybe we can just go to Irving Hall and watch Medda or just talk!"

"But I got these for you. We ain't gonna miss it! I promise!" They continued through the streets of New York, weaving in and out of the Friday crowds. Sarah made sure to say "excuse me" every time she bumped into someone. Jack wasn't so kind. He used his free elbow to move anyone who got in his way.

The crowd gradually thinned, noting that they were almost at the lodge. Yet there was something wrong. The boys were outside, staring up at the lodge in terror. Snitch and Itey both had their mouths open, their lower lips trembling. Snoddy and Bumlets had shaving cream on their face. They were getting ready to take their girls out so getting rid of their five o'clock shadows. Racetrack pacing, throwing his hands up in the air. He kept putting his cigar in his mouth and taking it back out. Snipeshooter scratched his head. He wasn't sure what was going on.

"Hey hey hey, what's goin' on?" Jack pulled Race to the side who yanked the cigar from his mouth.

"I'll tell ya what's goin' on. The whole lodge is turned upside. Almost everythin' is broken. We don't even know who did it! I swear, those ghost stories I've been tellin'? They're comin' true! I was just tryin' to scare them!" Race exclaimed before glancing up at the lodge. "Ya don't think Kloppman is really a ghost, do ya?"

Jack shook his head. "You finally cracked."

Sarah pushed her way through the boys and to the front of the crowd. For a moment, she thought the lodge was on fire and was making a head count of everyone who was outside. When she didn't smell smoke or see any flames, she assumed that someone died. Sarah, always jumping to the worst case scenario.

Racetrack wiped his face with his hand before lighting up his cigar. Jack patted him on the back before going up the steps to go inside to see what was going on.

"Jack, wait!" Sarah ran up the steps and took his arm. "What if something bad happened? Shouldn't we call the police first?" Sarah, always the voice of reason.

Jack took her hands. "Kloppman's not outside. If he's hurt, I gotta find him." He kissed her forehead and let go of her hands.

Sarah took his arm once again, pulling him back slightly. "Please be careful."

He gave her a nod, gave her a soft kiss before opening the door and going into the war zone.

The lodge was wrecked. It almost looked as though it was previously demolished and built back up by the hands of a three year old. Chairs were toppled over, the couch was ripped up and there was a ungodly scent that accompanied the chaos.

He heard a creak from the door in the closet. Quietly and cautiously he stepped over the junk that cluttered the room, his hand reaching for the door. He opened it quickly, his fists up in the air to defend himself.

Nothing...

He put his fists down and sighed. With his guard down, a fist connected with his eye. It wasn't strong enough to knock him back but it was enough to leave a bruise.

Les ran through the throngs of people and skidded to a stop in front of the lodge. The crowd that gathered outside was humongous! He spotted his sister Sarah and tugged on her hand.

"Sarah! What's going on? Where's Ed?" He asked while looking around feverishly. Sarah knelt down and took him by the shoulders.

"Les, who is Ed?"

"It's Mr. Pembermuffin's pet monkey! He needed a place to stay so I said I'd take him. You know Mr. Pembermuffin. He used to work for Pulitzer until he got fired. Then he joined the circus as a clown! He's really funny, Sarah." Les exclaimed before looking around once more.

Sarah stared at her brother with wide eyes. That explains everything. Sort of. She was still wondering why Mr. Pembermuffin joined the circus when he had such an extensive resume. Perhaps it was the strike that left a black mark, but a monkey?

Just then, Jack stumbled out of the lodge with a small monkey on his shoulder. His eyes was various shades of purple and swollen. The monkey was pulling his hair and yelling loudly, that is until the monkey saw Les and jumped into the child's arms.

"I think it's about time we got you back to Mr. Pembermuffin."


End file.
